Wednesday, December 30, 2009

January 9th is the Student & Coach challenge. Click on the flier for more information. The only correction from the flier is the combined rating ceiling is 2800 not 2600. If you have any questions please email columbiachess@gmail.com

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Our last club meeting of 2009 saw the Year End Trophies awarded to this year's over achievers. Philipp Lamby took Player of the Year honors edging out Paul Farb by winning the final two tournaments of the year. Chris Labrecque took home Jr. Player of the Year and most Improved Jr. Player gaining 463 points this year! Charlie LaMarche claimed Rookie of the Year honors posting a 1425 rating in his first year of tournament play. Charlie is moving to Missouri soon and we wish him the best! We'll miss ya! Jr. Rookie of the Year honors go to Ben Caiello with a 1381 rating after joining the club halfway through the year. He is not only rising quickly through the club ranks but is also dominating the SC Scholatic Grand Prix series finishing in first in all three tournaments so far! Erik Murrah claimed the Most Improved Player award gaining 329 points and edging out Ron Labrecque by by 8 points! Our Most Active Player Award went to Paul Farb who played in 45 games at the club finishing just ahead of Richard Watts and Chris Labrecque who competed in 42 games each. The final standings are HERE.

Be sure check out the guidelines for the Year End Trophies for 2010. They will be posted on the Awards Page soon. There were a few changes to the criteria. The biggest change is to the Player of the Year Award. Everyone now has a chance to be the POY.
Here are the POY rules for 2010:

Player of the Year

Player of the year is awarded to the player who demonstrates consistency in attendance and winning. Player of the year is determined in the following manner. Each victory* will count as 1 point. A first place finish in a club-sponsored tournament (regardless of section) will yield 3 bonus points. A second place finish will yield 2 points and the under-prize for each class will also yield an additional point. The player with the most points, regardless of section or rating wins player of the year. In the event of a tie, the total winning % will be used to determine the overall winner. Only players above 19 years of age are eligible for Player of the Year.

*A victory is considered a club-sponsored long game. In addition, finishing 1st place of a quad in a quick tournament counts as a single victory but not as a tournament 1st place finish. Club sponsored games are weekly tournaments and any weekend tournament that is advertised in advance. For example The Columbia Open. Match play does not count towards Player of the Year.

A Blitz tournament broke out at our final club meeting of the year. Two quads were formed and played a double round robin. Paul Farb and new club member Joerg Lohse tied for first in the Top Quad with 4 points ahead of Steve Boshears and Ben Caiello. Dan Caiello dominated the Lower Quad scoring a perfect 6 points to finish ahead of Paul Lowry, who finished second, Daniel Smith and Mike Meekins. The crosstable is HERE.

The club will be back on Thursday, Jan 14 with Round 1 of Ashland XIII. This will be a regular weekly tournament and the details can be found on the Tournament Page.

The next Sat tournament is the Student & Coach Challenge on Jan 9. Details are HERE.

Thanks to everyone for their help and support in making 2009 a great year at the Columbia Chess Club!! Thanks to Mike Meekins and Comtura Networks for sponsoring the club and the Columbia Open. Big THANK YOU to Ron Labrecque!! Without his time and effort being the most active TD in SC this year the club wouldn't have been able to grow to the size and activity it has.